Evaluating the Emotional Experiences of Mobile User Interfaces for the Digital Vulnerable Groups: A Hybrid Approach

This study employed a hybrid approach to evaluate the emotional experiences of digital vulnerable groups (DVG) with mobile user interfaces (UI). Based on a review of relevant literature, DVG categories were refined, and an improved SEM-CPU model was used to guide the experiment with a taxi-hailing app UI as the stimulus. Two UI versions, standard and improved, were developed from focus group findings. Product Emotion Measurement Instrument (PrEmo) was used to assess users’ emotions during interaction. Results showed that the improved UI significantly increased positive emotions and reduced negative emotions among older adults and people with disabilities, while the same clear trend was not observed among users constrained by economic or educational factors. Repeated-measures ANOVA confirmed significant differences between the two versions in both emotional dimensions. Through RTA and Delphi validation, the study developed 12 mobile UI design guidelines, providing a reusable framework for inclusive optimization and digital equity in mobile products.